house with illegal Apt

My G'ma & G'pas house had a kitchen in it that they used for family members to reside, or when G'ma had big holidays, she used the basement kitchen oven and stove for extra cooking...

when my family sold it after they passed away, the entire kitchen had to be ripped out... (town of hempstead)

Is this the norm? many people believe it only has to be the sink and the stove...

which is true?

G'ma had a stove top and an in wall oven... could that be why the whole thing including cabinets had to be torn out??

Re: house with illegal Apt

Stove = Kitchen so that is always a rip out.

sometimes you can get away with a sink but depends on the village/town. Our seller had to rip out a sink in the now master bedroom area of our soon to be house (crossing fingers) but I think because it was not done to code (not vented correctly.)

Re: house with illegal Apt

A full stove (with oven) is a red flag for illegal apartment. Not allowed!

You are allowed a cook top and sink.

I have lived in a few illegal apartments. I could never have an oven. Our house had an illegal apartment when DH bought it. In one of the bedroom upstairs we still have the kitchenette set up. 2 burner stove top and fridge. We call it the "suite". It's great for when my mom comes to visit. She had a bed area in the bedroom and the kitchenette for her breakfast in the morning.

Re: house with illegal Apt

I think any appliances used for cooking must go since it's a fire hazard. My mom had to rip out her stove but the sink is okay. That's just plumbing. It's like having a sink in a basement bathroom. We still use the kitchen cabinets for storage of plates, cuts, etc.. since we still do BBQs in the yard which is accessible only from the basement.

Re: house with illegal Apt

i am hearing that because of the banking climate, everything has to go...

I am only asking b/c we liked a house that had an illegal apartment and a wall was put up on an angle by the downstairs bathroom. the homeowner and listing agent believe that all they have to take out is stove, while my Atty and realtor believe that the wall will have to be removed (as well as the baseboard that's on the apartment side of that wall), and entire kitchen.

just wondering who is right...

Re: house with illegal Apt

You cannot have a full kitchen in the illegal apartment or a stove. That's correct! That has nothing to do with banks but with code. Townships do not allow it. That's to deter from illegal apartments and fire hazards. That was that way already years ago.

Re: house with illegal Apt

we had to rip everything out after building a brand new apartmwnt in our basement. when i say everything, i mean, the entire countertop and sink to put a new counter with bar sink, remove stove/oven, microwave, and we had to get permits to keep the bathroom we had down there. ridiculous...

Re: house with illegal Apt

In Babylon town even the width of the doors is in question. In our basement the sellers needed to widen some doorways because they were 'too small' and a door could be put there and then it would be considered a bedroom.